


Puppetmaster

by ChaosDragon (PlotWitch)



Series: Till Death Do We Part [3]
Category: Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter - Laurell K. Hamilton
Genre: F/M, Minor Character Death, Possession, more like middle character death, prices for certain services are definitely dated
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2001-02-25
Updated: 2001-02-25
Packaged: 2020-07-20 00:33:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 11,772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19983103
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PlotWitch/pseuds/ChaosDragon
Summary: Still struggling to regain all of her memories and find a balance between who she was and who she's become, Anita falls into a new world which she'd only visited once. Only this time, without Edward and completely on her own.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> STILL pre better writing skills. Sorry.

“Oh no, hell no. No, no, no, no, no!”

I was standing in my bathroom trying to wake up from what I was sure was a nightmare.

“What?” Ronnie called. She was in my bedroom waiting for me to tell her what the emergency was. I’d called her at work and told her to come to my house as soon as she could. She left a client. It was good she was here, otherwise I might have gone and found Edward and shot him. His death was high on my list of priorities right now. At the very top, as a matter of fact.

I walked out of my bathroom and showed her the tube of white plastic. “It’s blue.”

She looked at me, finally understanding why I was so upset. “It’s only one, Anita. These things have been known to be wrong.”

I flopped down on the bed next to her and closed my eyes. “This is the sixth, Ronnie. They were all blue.”

I opened my eyes just in time to see her jaw drop. My thoughts, exactly.

“Well, you have been married for three months, Anita. It was bound to happen sooner or later.”

I sighed and sat up. I didn’t have the heart to tell her that Edward and I didn’t even sleep in the same room. In fact, the only time we’d slept together, barring the night he’d adopted Becca, was the night of our wedding. And that was brought on by an acute attack of the wicked bitch of the west. I had Raina to thank for this mess. Kind of.

“Ronnie, I can’t be pregnant.”

“Well, you are.”

“Shit.”

I heard a voice echo my sentiments. It wasn’t Ronnie’s. Hell, it wasn’t even the same sex.

But at least it wasn’t Edward. I opened my eyes to find Nathaniel standing in the door of my room. I didn’t even have the heart to threaten him so he wouldn’t tell. Or the stomach, I found, as I raced to the bathroom. Morning sickness is a bitch. Thank god Edward hadn’t been around in the morning to notice it the last month. That would have been… interesting.

I rinsed my mouth out and went back to my bedroom. Ronnie was still there. I pulled back the covers on my bed and curled up under them. This can’t be happening.

“Well, at least you don’t have to tell Bert you’ll be late,” Nathaniel said as he strolled back into the room. He handed me a cool washcloth and I laid it over my eyes.

“True,” I said.

I’d quit on him before this entire mess had started, just before I’d had an accident with a wall. The wall had won and taken my memories as its prize. But I’d called Bert up after the honeymoon and we’d come to an agreement. He couldn’t schedule a job for me unless I cleared it first. I was happy. He wasn’t. But the new arrangement meant I didn’t have to go into the office until later. Much later.

I heard Ronnie sigh and then she got up off the bed. “I hate to do this, Anita, but I have to get back to work.”

I nodded carefully, trying to keep the next bout of nausea from taking control. “I understand completely.”

I heard her walk to the door, then stop. “When are you telling Ted?”

“Not today. Not ever,” I grumbled.

She only knew Edward as Ted. Ted Forrester. A bounty hunter and general good ‘ol boy. Very few people knew him as he truly was: Edward the sociopath.

“Then I’ll keep quiet,” she said.

I slid the cloth off of my eyes and smiled gratefully at her. She smiled back and left. The cloth went back into place and Nathaniel flopped down beside me. I groaned. The motion of the bed nearly sent me back to the bathroom.

“Nathaniel, if you make the bed move again, I’m going to shoot you.” My voice was flat and empty. I was serious.

He laughed softly. “As you wish, my queen.”

I didn’t answer.

“So who’s the father? Richard, or Jean-Claude?”

Stupid question. I don’t sleep with the vamps or weres. But then, he probably didn’t know that. Especially since Edward and I didn’t share a room. The pard knew, but they knew better than to say anything. They didn’t know why but they didn’t ask. They were learning.

They didn’t even ask why I’d married Edward. They really were learning. If I hadn’t been so relieved about it might have been worried, or maybe grateful, but those weren’t things I did too often anymore.

“Neither, Nathaniel. And don’t even think about asking it,” I said.

No need for him to know for sure that Edward really was the father. I didn’t need to know that. I didn’t want to know it. I would’ve been much happier if it had been the result of some affair. But silly me, I didn’t sleep around. Hell, I didn’t sleep with anyone now that I was married. Hell, I didn’t sleep with anyone before I was married.

Good little Anita, faithful to her sociopathic husband. Bully for me.

Nathaniel rolled off the bed and I fought the nausea again. I heard the door close with a soft click and rolled over onto my side. Sleep was a good remedy for morning sickness. If I went to sleep, I wouldn’t have to deal with it. So I did.

When I woke up, I felt good as new. Until I saw my clock. I had about twenty minutes to make it to work on time. Shit. I jumped out of bed and grabbed a quick shower, then dressed in black jeans and a red tee shirt. The Browning went in the shoulder holster, the Firestar in the Uncle Mike’s inter pants holster, set for a right cross draw. My knives followed onto my forearms and then my latest toys went to my upper left arm. Edward had brought me back some throwing knives, slender and deadly, from his latest trip out of state for a job. He’d even taught me how to use them. I’d become very good at it.

My red windbreaker followed, and I headed to the kitchen for a quick cup of coffee. I was rinsing out my mug, a white one with “Don’t ask, I won’t tell anyway,” in red letters on it, when I felt more than heard someone behind me. I drew the Firestar carefully so they wouldn’t know and when I turned around with it aimed carefully, I saw Edward’s surprised face.

“Hands on your head, no sudden moves.”

He did as I said. I think he was a little disappointed in himself, he hadn’t got the drop on me exactly. He had, but he hadn’t had a weapon out, so I had him. It was great fun. He’d been trying to get the drop on me for a while now whenever he came home, but so far, he hadn’t. I was pleased with myself.

I put my mug on the counter and walked around him, carefully out of his reach. “You can put your hands down now, Edward,” I said as I slid the Firestar back into its holster without looking. Practice makes perfect. I’d been doing a lot of practicing lately.

His hands went down and reappeared with his gun. I smiled at him. “Bang, you’re dead.”

He hadn’t noticed that I’d drawn the Browning as I’d put the Firestar away. He smiled at me. I was wrong, he’d noticed. I was just faster than he was. I smiled back.

“Love to stay and shoot you, Edward, but I’m late for work.”

With a soft laugh I left.


	2. Chapter 2

I came home to a silent and dark house. Just the way I like it. I unlocked the door and stepped in. Out of the corner of my eyes I saw movement to my left, and I dropped and rolled toward it pulling one of the throwing knives. It left my hand as I came out of the roll and I heard I cry of pain and surprise. The lights came on and I saw several very shocked people sitting in the living room, among them the wounded Nathaniel.

The knife had taken him in the throat, exactly where I’d aimed, and blood was gurgling out of the wound around the blade. If it hadn’t been for the fact two of the people sitting in my living room where complete strangers I would have smiled. As it was, I could only stand up and pull the blade out of Nathaniel’s throat.

I glanced at the strangers and shrugged. Edward was with them so I knew they wouldn’t hurt me. So I took the knife and wiped it off on my jeans and slid it back into its sheath on my arm. I patted Nathaniel’s head as the wound began healing and said, “It wasn’t silver, you’ll heal.”

He looked at me strangely and when he could talk again, he said, “Next time you can get the lights, Edward.”

I looked at Edward and glared at him. It was just like him to send the pard around as the cannon fodder. I may not be on the best terms with the lycanthrope community, but I could still remember my duties to the pard as their Nimir-ra. Letting Edward get them killed was not allowed. I half moved my hand to the Browning but before I could there were two automatic weapons on me. I didn’t know their make, but I knew I was dead if I pulled the gun.

So I didn’t. I slowly moved my hands away and let them stay at my sides, visible and empty.

“Edward?” I said softly letting my voice go cold and distant.

He waved a hand at the men and the guns went back into their laps. “She’s not going to shoot you. It’s me she’s angry with right now.”

He looked at me and I took it as a sign I could move again. I went and sat on the couch with him, but not near him. He was still in trouble with me for endangering Nathaniel.

“They’re here for you, Anita,” he said and left the room.

That really helped. But I was relatively sure they weren’t going to kill me. Yet.

So I smiled at them my best professional smile. It was friendly and open, and I knew I looked harmless. It would have been more convincing if they hadn’t just seen me throw a knife and put it through a man’s throat. I glanced over at Nathaniel who was still sitting on the floor against the wall, not bleeding anymore, completely healed.

My smile never faltered.

“We have a proposition for you, Ms. Blake,” the man on the left said. He pulled back the lapel of his expensive looking navy suit and produced a manila envelope. “Inside are the details of a job we’d like to offer you. The payment will be deposited directly into your account in the amount of five hundred thousand dollars.”

I took the envelope and opened it. Inside were a picture of a man and details on his life. It was an offer for a hit. I continued smiling and tossed the envelope back at the men. The one on the right caught it silently and laid it on the coffee table.

“I don’t do things like this. Try my husband.” I was proud of myself; I didn’t even stumble over calling Edward my husband. I heard movement behind me and saw Edward walk back in with two cups of coffee in his hands. He nodded his head towards the kitchen and Nathaniel, good little wereleopard that he is, crawled to his feet and went in it.

Edward sat down next to me and handed me my cup. I looked at the mug and decided that killing him might be more fun than trouble. He’d poured my coffee into my baby penguin’s mug. Bastard.

I smiled at Edward, too. They didn’t need to know that I was well and truly pissed at him. He smiled back and draped an arm behind me. Brownie point for me, I didn’t knock it away.

“This is more his type of job than mine. Especially when I work with the police.” I turned back to the men, still smiling, but not so nicely.

It was true, I was working with the police still. RPIT had needed my expertise several times since the accident where I lost my memories and I was plenty capable of helping them, though it was almost pure business now. I rarely bantered with Zerbrowski and the guys anymore and they’d stopped trying. They knew something was wrong, but they just chalked it up to the amnesia thing. But Dolph, I think, was beginning to wonder.

Blue Suit smiled broadly at me. “Which is precisely why we want _you_ to do this job. The man is a police officer.”

“In that case, hell no.”

The two men stood and walked to the door. Edward followed them, not looking at me. They left the envelope on the table. “We’ll be in touch, Ms. Blake.”

They left and Edward locked the door behind them. The smile left my face and I looked at him blankly.

“Why did they come to me? How did they know about me?”

Edward shrugged and sat down next to me, his coffee still in hand. He took a sip and said, “They just told me they wanted to talk. Didn’t say who they wanted to talk to.”

“At three in the morning, they want to talk.” My voice was cold and sarcastic. I looked down at my coffee and went to take another sip. My stomach turned. Suddenly coffee didn’t seem like a very good idea.

Edward looked at me oddly then, “Are you okay, Anita?”

I nodded just before I dashed to the bathroom. Morning sickness should not come at this time of the morning. It’s cruel and unusual punishment. Edward was still looking at me strangely when I walked out of the bathroom. I didn’t look at him.

I was still feeling a little queasy as I picked up my coffee and without finishing it, I took it into the kitchen and poured it down the drain. Nathaniel was sitting at the table holding his own cup of coffee. It looked like he sweetened it within an inch of its java.

“You haven’t told him?” he asked. I didn’t answer so he continued. “I suppose it’s better since he’d be mad.”

“Mad for what?”

He looked at me like I was crazy. “Mad that you slept around. I know you don’t sleep with him.”

I laughed a harsh yet bubbly sound. Raina had come to play. “You have no idea, Nathaniel,” I said as I pushed Raina back down. It was harder than usual because I was blocking the marks. Wouldn’t do to let the furball and the corpse know of my transgression into motherhood.

I walked back out into the living room and picked up my keys where I’d dropped them when I’d rolled into the room. It seemed like ages ago and just the thought of rolling, even to save my own life, made my stomach want to jump out of my throat. I shook my head and Edward stood.

“What’s wrong, Anita?”

“I’m going to go pick Becca up. She cried the last time we left her at the Circus all night.”

And before Edward could ask me what was wrong again, I was gone.


	3. Chapter 3

Maybe going to the Circus to pick Becca up was a bad idea, I decided as the smell of cotton candy and other foods wafted through the door into the stairwell that led to Jean-Claude’s lair. The drive over hadn’t done much to sooth my nausea and I was feeling the need to visit the bathroom again.

But I wouldn’t. Not while I was here.

Not while I was around anyone who was connected to Jean-Claude and Richard.

My being pregnant was none of their damned business and it was going to stay that way.

I made it safely down the stairs and into the living area without losing my lunch, bully for me. Jason was nowhere in sight and the room was empty. Good. I sank down into the couch and closed my eyes. I was feeling sick again and I wondered if knowing that I was pregnant made a difference in the nausea. It was never this bad when I just suspected. I groaned in frustration and opened my eyes.

I was just in time to see Jason stroll in with some type of pastry in his hand. He was wearing his usual outfit of painted on leather and no shirt and munching happily at the food as he sat down next to me. Normally I would have enjoyed the smell of the goodie but right now it was more than I could handle.

With another groan I was running to the bathroom and on my knees. This was getting tiring. I’d never had to pray to the porcelain god this often, I was a teetotaler. No drinking for me. Now I was thankful I’d never done it. I was also wishing I could skip the whole kneeling in the bathroom routine.

Have I said that morning sickness is a bitch?

I rinsed my mouth out and headed back into the living area, Jason was still there but Richard had joined him. Richard was looking at me strangely and without a word Jason left taking the evil pastry with him. Someone liked me because with it gone my stomach calmed down. I was safe, for the time being.

“Anita?” Richard asked softly, his face unhappy.

“Where’s Becca?” I asked.

“Are you…?” He let his words trail off. I knew where he was going with this.

I repeated my question and then I saw it in his eyes. He knew. I could so live without this. I felt his anger well up through the marks and then it became sorrow. Another veil of sorrow shot threw me, and I knew that Jean-Claude knew. No sooner had I realized it than he appeared wearing black pants and some boots that could only be described as pettable. On anyone else they would have been feminine and, for a word, girly, but on the vampire they were utterly masculine.

I felt a wave of desire flash through me that wasn’t mine. It was Raina, still sitting inside me. She knew him, his body, and she wanted him. I sighed. I so did not need this. I looked at him and the pain in his eyes made me feel guilty for a moment. I closed my eyes.

When I opened them I was standing in front of Jean-Claude, reaching for him. “Shit!” I gasped as I drew back. He was still standing where he’d been since entering the room. I’d gone to him. I didn’t remember moving.

Jean-Claude was watching me with deeply blue eyes. The anguish I saw in them and felt nearly drowned her out, but Raina wouldn’t be bottled. Not when she was this close to something she wanted to fuck. I laughed her laugh and felt her fighting to control me. Not going to happen.

I went to my knees and when I was back in complete control I looked up to see fear in Richard’s face, in Jean-Claude’s eyes. I would have been happy if it hadn’t been for the fact that I was a little afraid myself. Much as I liked scaring ‘ol Fang-face I wasn’t a fan of being forced to do anything.

I glanced at Richard and saw something slide across his eyes. Fear, yes, and something else. Like he knew something. But his next words were “Is he…?”

I assumed he mean was Edward the father. I didn’t answer the question. It was none of his damned business. I shook my head at him and said, “Don’t, Richard. I came to pick Becca up.”

No sooner had I said it than Jason reappeared with Becca curled up in his arms. She was asleep and he was smiling down at her. Like I said, everyone loved the her. It was almost impossible not to. He slipped her into my arms, and I was turning to carry her to the jeep when a deafening crash came from somewhere over my head.

I turned and the room was empty save for me, Jason, and Becca who was still fast asleep in my arms. I felt true fear radiate from Jean-Claude’s side of the marks and I knew something was wrong. I turned and raced up the stairs with Jason close behind. Something was wrong and I didn’t want Becca hurt.

I laid her quickly, but gently, in the passenger seat and buckled her in. Jason closed the door for me and I slid into my seat, cranking the car.

Jason was smiling at me.

“What?” I asked irritably.

He grinned wider. “You’re knocked up, aren’t you?”

I flicked him off, which only made the smile grow even wider, something I thought would have been impossible. Well, it was a lose/lose situation. Might as well contain it. “One word, Jason, one word to him, and I’ll have your hide hanging next to the swan’s.”

The minute I said it I remembered Kaspar Gundersson, the wereswan who’d nearly gotten me killed. He’d locked me in a cage with Jason while the full moon rode high and Jason was in the throes of his beast. I knew there was a reason I liked that swan skin. I also remembered that it had been Richard and Edward who’d saved me. So maybe furface had his uses.

Jason's smile faded a notch but not enough for me to believe he wouldn’t hint about. I was about to reinforce the threat when the backdoor to the Circus blew open as though someone had stuck dynamite in its hinges. I was so not hanging around. I peeled out of the parking lot not looking back and set a new land speed record on my way home.

Once there, Becca was tucked into her bed and I went to my own, pointedly ignoring Edward. I did stop to smile at Nathaniel.

I was just curling up with Sigmund when my door swung open and Edward strode in, hitting the lights and promptly ruining my night vision. He was holding my phone and didn’t look happy.

“It’s the vampire. He just told me something very… disturbing.”

Okay, that’s it, marks or no Jean-Claude was going to die.

I took the phone without looking back at Edward. “What do you want?”

“Anita, Gretchen is out of the box,” he said like that explained everything.

It didn’t.

“Who?”

“A long story, _ma_ … Anita. I do not have the time if I am to find her ere dawn.”

He sounded tired. About as tired as I was.

“Okay, you do that. Go find her.”

I hung up the phone without another word, pulled the batteries out and tossed the phone to Edward.

“The next person who bugs me with stupid shit like that is going to be very unhappy.”

I rolled over and waited for him to leave. He did, and I went to sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

The day had gone well, no strange women named Gretchen jumping out of the shadows at me, but she was a vampire, so I still had the entire night. But I’d be spending it at home, so no worries. I’d only had one consultation today and after a quick check with Bert for tomorrow’s raisings I was on my way home… to a house that was bright and a driveway that had a car in it.

A car that wasn’t Edward’s.

I had my gun in hand as I unlocked the door and stepped in. I was greeted by the sight of my family bonding with my family. Shit.

Edward was sitting on the couch with my father and Judith and Becca was playing dolls with Andria while Josh watched TV.

Shit, shit, shit.

What the hell were they doing here?

“Anita, shame on you. How could you get married and not invite us to the wedding?” Judith said as she smiled at Edward. “Ted and his daughter are charming.”

“Yeah, I wanted to see you in a dress,” Josh said while turning off the TV.

I frowned at Josh and then pasted my best professional smile on. “Ted, darling,” I said through clenched teeth. “Could I talk to you for a minute in the kitchen, please?”

Edward smiled at me and said, “Of course, sweetheart.”

He followed me to the kitchen, and I turned on him.

“What the hell is my family doing here?” I hissed at him.

“Judith called, asked who I was.” His face was empty. Better that than that smile. If he’d smiled, I would have shot him on the spot, as it was, I still had the Browning naked in my hand.

“Couldn’t you have lied?” I asked as I leaned against the counter. “I don’t need to spend time with them right now. Especially not with the—” I stopped speaking abruptly. I’d almost said ‘with the baby.’ That wouldn’t have gone over well.

“Not with the what?”

I didn’t answer.

“You better go change,” he said after a minute of silence.

I looked up at him and his baby blues just stared right back. “Why?”

“They want to take us out to dinner. Call it a late wedding present.”

I holstered the Browning and shook my head. God, my life could not get any worse. I turned to go change and Edward’s hand on my arm stopped me.

“Are you alright, Anita?”

I pulled away from him and went to change. I’d just slid my jeans and my shirt on, another solid blue tee, when I heard the phone ring. A few moments later there was a knock at the door, and I heard Josh say, “Anita? Your boss is on the phone.”

I opened the door a crack and took the phone. Tucking it between my shoulder and chin so that I could strap my knives on I said, “I’m off, Bert. What do you want?”

A deep male voice chuckled, and I nearly dropped the phone. It wasn’t Bert, it was Blue Suit. “Ms. Blake, we merely wanted to tell you that the job must be completed tonight.”

“I told you no.”

“I think you’ve reconsidered. I think you want to do this.”

I thought about it for a moment. I had thought about it more, but it was still too dangerous for me to do. I worked with the cops; they’d catch me if I killed one. That was the only reason I said no in the first place.

“We can assure you that the job is not… conspicuous.”

“How?” Okay, I was interested. If I couldn’t get caught… maybe it was worth it.

“The target will be dining in the District tonight. All you have to do is make sure you dine near him. With your husband,” he chuckled, “you have an alibi.”

I considered it and then my mind was made up. “Okay, I’ll do it.”

He told me the name of the restaurant where the cop would be and hung up. I grabbed the Browning from the bed. Pulling its holster on I slid it home and walked out the door as I pulled my dinner jacket over it. The weapon I’d use would be supplied in the ladies’ room in a vent, there was no need for me to worry about the Browning being traced.

As I entered the living room I smiled at my family. “How about going to _Sangre_ for dinner?” I said, and my fate was sealed.

Becca rode with my parents, they wanted to bond with their first grandchild. Edward and I rode silently in my jeep as Josh and Andria talked softly in the backseat. Edward was being quieter than usual, and I knew he knew whom I’d talked to. What he didn’t know was if I’d said yes or not. He’d know tomorrow. The murder would be on the front page of the paper.

We sat down in a secluded corner of the restaurant and ordered. I watched the front door, waiting for the target to come. We were nearly through eating when he finally did, but I knew when he got up to go to the bathroom. I glanced at Edward who was talking to Josh and then quickly left the table.

Once in the ladies’ room I pried the vent cover off of it and pulled out a small .9mm with a silencer. I was careful not to let my skin touch it; I’d grabbed some paper towels for the very purpose. With it in hand I peeked out of the door. No one in sight. I slipped across the hall and into the men’s room holding the gun low, my finger riding the trigger through the paper towel.

The target was washing his hands. He looked up at me through the mirror and I saw the surprise in his eyes.

“Anita,” he said, and then his eyes widened further as he saw the gun.

“Into the stall, Merlioni,” I said as I held the gun on him. I’d worked with him once, a long time ago. He was still part of RPIT, but I never saw him at crime scenes anymore. He went into the stall and I smiled at him emptily. Once he was in the stall, I pulled the trigger twice.

Both shots took him high in the chest and I knew one of them was a heart shot as deeply red blood welled out of it. I smiled and tossed the gun down beside him, paper towels still in hand. I closed the stall door and made it back to the ladies’ room unseen. I washed my hands, though they were clean of blood, and used the paper towels to dry them. Then I flushed them so no one could trace them back to me. There would be powder stains on them as well as my own DNA in the form of dead skin cells.

I smiled as I walked back to the table and sat down. Edward looked at me and then my father and Judith. I laughed gaily, but it wasn't my laugh. It was Raina’s.

“Are you okay, Anita?” Judith asked.

Funny, lots of people were asking me that. Or maybe it was just the same people asking that a lot. I laughed again, Raina’s laugh, and nodded. She looked at me and then stood.

“Well then, we’ve paid. Shall we leave?”

Edward stood and scooped Becca up in his arms. “Come on, Princess, it’s time to go home.”

I smiled again and nearly laughed and stood. Leaving was fine by me; I didn’t want to stay where Raina would draw attention by making me laugh. As it was, I could feel her trying to make me move in the direction of the blood. She could smell it and it drove her insane with hunger and lust.

I was still fighting her when halfway to my car I felt a cool wind brush my back. I turned just in time to see a blond woman, no, vampire, her face pale and thin and full of rage. She plowed into me screaming, “He is mine, human!”

We slammed into a wall, my back and head taking most of the impact, while she still clung to me. I fell to the ground unable to move from the force of the collision and I couldn’t stop her as she bared her fangs and knelt to my neck. She would have bitten me and drained me there if it hadn’t been for the gunshot that echoed through street.

Blood blossomed on her chest and she screeched a high, frenzied sound. Then she jumped back and launched herself into the air. I rolled to my side and saw Edward holding his Beretta with Becca safely behind him. I tried to sit up and couldn’t.

Gretchen, that was Gretchen. I knew it, but the knowledge didn’t help. My last thought as I sank into blackness was that the wall won again.


	5. Chapter 5

When I woke I was in the hospital again. I didn’t know it by sight, I knew it by sound and taste and smell. The room was dark save for a faint glow above me.

There was a figure huddled in a seat next to my bed and I knew it. It was my father.

“Daddy…” I said softly.

He woke with a start and pulled the chain to make the fluorescent light next to the bed light up. He sat up and I looked at his wrinkled clothes. He’d been sleeping there for a while. It made me wonder what day it was.

“Anita? Are you okay?”

The same question, but I could answer it, so the day wasn’t a complete loss.

“I’m okay, Daddy. How long…?”

“You’ve been asleep for a while. Most of the night.” He stood and pulled the curtains back from the window and I could see the soft rose and violet of the dawn sky. I could feel it, too, if I concentrated. It felt very safe. Probably because it meant Gretchen had to sleep.

He pressed the nurse call button and sat down again.

“Who was that woman?”

And surprisingly, the second he asked I knew. I remembered who she was and why she hated me.

“Gretchen. She’s a vampire. She thinks I want the man she’s in love with.”

“She’s in love with Ted?”

I shook my head. “She thinks I’m still with Jean-Claude.”

My father’s face clouded over as I said Jean-Claude’s name.

“How could she think that? You’re married.”

Gretchen didn’t know I was married. She’d been locked up in a box for the last… how long was it? At least a few years, I think. Maybe she was a little mad about that, too. But her being locked in a box wasn’t my fault. She had herself and Jean-Claude to blame for that.

I didn’t bother answering him because a nurse came in. She checked the IV in my arm and then my blood pressure. She smiled at me and I smiled back, only because my father was in the room. Then she left saying that the doctor would be in shortly.

A few moments later the door opened. I expected to see the doctor, but it was Edward. He looked pale and drawn. Like he hadn’t slept. Which he probably hadn’t if my family was all here in the hospital. He looked at me for a moment from the doorway and then he walked slowly to my bed. He looked worried.

He opened his mouth and I thought for a minute that he was going to ask if I was okay. I think I would have screamed if he had. He didn’t. Instead he leaned down and kissed my forehead softly. For a minute I stiffened and then I remembered my father was in the room. I could put on a show while I was in a hospital bed. I had to. It wouldn’t do if my dad figured out something was wrong in paradise.

I smiled at him and captured his hand in mine. “Hey,” I said softly.

“Hey,” he said back.

It sounded like something out of a really bad movie.

My father smiled and stood. “I’ll leave you two alone.”

He leaned over and kissed my cheek. “Your young man seems very nice. He was worried about you.”

Then he left.

Edward? Worried about me? Naw.

Trust Edward to keep acting even when I’m lying unconscious in a bed, victim of a love crazed vampire.

“Who the hell was that?” he asked, and his voice was sharp. Emotion. How un-Edward-like.

“Long story. Let’s just say she’s not a happy vampire.”

Edward looked at me and his eyes went blank. “I didn’t kill her. Jean-Claude hasn’t found her.”

I smiled. “Don’t worry, he will. If he doesn’t all he has to do is stay with me. She’ll come after me again.”

Edward smiled and slid his hand out of mine. Funny, I’d forgotten I was holding it.

The door opened and a man in a white coat walked in. The doctor.

He smiled at Edward and me and checked my IV and blood pressure. I was good; I didn’t tell him the nurse had already done it. The he pulled out a penlight and checked my eyes.

“You were lucky, Ms. Blake. You could have had your neck broken. As it is, I’m amazed you came through with only a mild concussion.”

I smiled at the doctor as he scribbled something down on what I guessed was my chart.

“Does that mean I can leave?” I asked.

The doctor looked up rapidly and I’d swear he smiled. But it was gone in an instant as he said, “I’m aware you enjoy checking out early Ms. Blake, but not this time. I’m keeping you for another day or so to make sure everything’s safe and sound.”

I rolled over slightly. Raina was grumbling in my head. She wasn’t too happy about staying in the hospital either, and even though I was loathe to agree with her on anything, I felt the same way. Hospitals are not my favorite place to be.

But from the look in the doctor’s eyes I could see I was stuck here for another day. Maybe if I asked him really nicely, Edward would shoot him so I could get out of here. As quickly as I thought it, I rejected the idea. Too many witnesses. Couldn’t have them, especially when some of the witnesses just outside were my parents and my brother and sister. And let’s not forget my stepdaughter.

Maybe logic would work.

“Why do I have to stay?” I asked as the doctor headed out the door.

“We want to play it safe.”

Very helpful. I didn’t pursue the question.

Edward was looking at me neutrally when the doctor turned in the doorway. “You’ll be happy to know, Ms. Blake, that the baby is fine.”

I looked at the doctor and he turned and left. Oh god, why did he have to say that in front of Edward? Oh yeah, Edward’s my husband.

I closed my eyes hoping that when I opened them that this would all have been a dream. No such luck. I opened them to the same hospital room and Edward, whose face was so full of shock I nearly laughed.

“Baby?” he asked softly.

I closed my eyes again. This was going to be a long day.


	6. Chapter 6

“You’re pregnant?” Edward asked softly. I refused to open my eyes; I could just see the blank face I knew he was giving me right now. “How did you get pregnant?”

My eyes snapped open and my mouth was wide. How did I get pregnant? That had to be one of the stupidest questions I’d heard in a while, and believe me, I’ve heard some bad ones. I met Edward’s eyes and they were empty. Almost. His eyes were hard, and I’d say angry if I didn’t believe Edward incapable of being truly angry by something that didn’t have to do with Becca.

Me? I’m just his lifeline.

“So who’s the father? The vampire or the werewolf?” His voice was empty but his words hurt. It was like he was blaming me for this.

And that hurt.

Especially since it wasn’t entirely my fault. Edward was to blame, and so was Raina. But I wasn’t going to tell him that. Instead I lay there silently, not looking at Edward. For once it was just me. I couldn’t feel Raina anywhere, and I thought maybe she’d gone back to wherever the hell she came from.

I smiled a little at the thought and looked to my left as Edward stood up and walked out of the room. A few moments later he was herded back in by my family. Apparently, they’d gotten sick of waiting for us lovebirds to give the okay and headed in.

Edward’s face was smiling, it was his Ted face, but I knew better. I knew he was angry. I don’t know why he’d be mad. It’s not like I cheated on him, but then again, it’s not like we were really married. It’s not like I’d ever be married for love. Not now, not ever.

And the second it crossed my mind I felt something inside me break. I’d like to say it was my heart, but I didn’t think I had heart anymore. Maybe I never did. But whatever it was, it was broke, and I nearly started to cry. It hurt so badly to realize that one thing I’d wanted, even though I’d known that it could never realistically happen, was truly out of my grasp.

And when it broke… I stopped feeling it.

The only thing left for me to feel was the anger. The anger at Edward for being angry with me. I wasn’t his property, it would have served him right if Jean-Claude or Richard were the father. It’s not like he was faithful to me. I was almost positive he was having affairs.

His words rang in my ears. Once he’d said, “Even Death has needs.”

It would serve him right if anyone else were the father. He wasn’t a father. He was a sociopath.

Maybe he was good to Becca, but knowing Edward he had an ulterior motive. But I didn’t care. All I knew was I wanted to hurt him.

I wanted to hurt him for hurting me.

And I did.

“Ted, darling, why don’t you tell them the good news?” I said as I looked at my family.

There was a smile on my face, and I knew it looked happy, overjoyed. I was. Because I knew I’d hurt Edward by letting the news of my pregnancy out of the bag. Because everyone would think he was the father, but he’d always wonder who the father was: the corpse or the lycanthrope.

And it would eat at him because the Anita he’d known was a good girl, not someone to do things like this. Not someone like me.

Edward looked at me and his eyes slipped for once. I could see anger and pain in his eyes. It made me laugh. And as my family turned to him, he slid his Ted face back on.

“Anita’s in the family way,” he said softly, but loud enough for it to be heard through the room.

I laughed softly at the way he said it and my laugh echoed. The room was utterly silent.

Then my family turned to me, forgetting Edward was there.

“Oh, Anita! I’m so happy for you!” Judith said as she leaned over and kissed my cheek.

The rest of my family crowded around me and Becca crawled onto the hospital bed next to me. I glanced past my family and saw Edward standing by the door.

The mask was gone again, and so was the anger. Pain and hatred had replaced it. I could safely assume the pain was there because of what he’d lost. The only human to ever know what he was, who he was, and accept him for it. The only human to truly give their friendship to him, no ulterior motives at all. I knew that pain for its truth, and he knew that I knew.

The pain left and all that was left was the hatred.

Hatred for what I was, for what I’d become.

It made me a little sad, but not because he hated me. I’d become what he’d always wanted me to be. _Him._ And now he regretted it. I pitied him for that, but the pity and sorrow were quickly replaced by satisfaction.

I’d hurt him. Badly. Where it mattered most to him.

And I knew it mattered to him, because he was my friend.

No, he’d been my friend once, before. Now he wasn’t. Not an enemy, not yet, but not a friend. And he knew it, too. His eyes told me the truth he felt.

And as quickly as I knew it, I realized he’d never dropped his mask. His face was blank, empty, cold. His eyes were distant to everyone. Except me.

I laughed again as my family talked to themselves, and me, and it was a bubbly laugh. My laugh.

Edward wasn’t as good as he’d once thought, or he’d let me get too close. Because I was reading him like an open book, and it made me deliriously happy.

I could almost smell his hatred of me on the air, and I could feel it vibrate against my skin.

I closed my eyes and savored my victory over him. When I opened them, he was gone.

But that was okay. I knew he’d be back.

And when he came, I’d make him suffer more.


	7. Chapter 7

I was running through the woods. My skin was tingling and the change was almost on me. But I would control it, I had to, I was lupa.

He was there and I stalked to him, straddling him, kissing him. He was mine, my puppet, and we both knew it.

I slid my hands down my naked body and savored the power in the air. It was my power, his power, our power. And it was the power of the pack, of the many lukoi who’d been in our clan.

But there was something new there, something _she_ brought, and I could feel it.

She was with the other, the challenger.

And her power rode along the cool breeze.

They burst into the clearing and I met her eyes. Her gaze held mine and I knew that she would be my death.

But my death would only make her my puppet.

Because death is only the beginning…

I woke with a start. According to the clock I’d only been asleep for a few hours. The dream had bothered me, but I didn’t know why, I couldn’t remember all of it, only bit and pieces. But those words were there in my mind loud and clear, and they frightened me.

_Death is only the beginning_.

What the hell did that mean? And why did it make my heart pound with fear?

Nothing had truly frightened me since I’d left the hospital all those months ago. Not even the thought of losing the child that grew in my womb, that had lived there for nearly eight months.

That didn’t frighten me because I knew that it would never happen. The vampire would protect me from his, the werewolf from his, too, and Death would watch for the rest.

As much as he still hated me, he would still protect me because somewhere in his twisted soul he hoped that I would change back into that pitiful thing that I’d been before.

It wouldn’t happen. I wouldn’t let it. The months since Death had begun hating me had been wonderfully generous to me.

I was living my life the way I should have been living it.

I was doing the things I’d always wanted to do but never had the courage to bring myself to realize.

For the first time, I was the hunter and not the prey.

Never the prey.

I think it worried Death that I was doing my job and working for the police. But I think it scared him that I was doing something else as well. Something I’d once considered wrong and immoral. I was doing Death’s job and doing it well.

And I knew it scared him. I could smell it on him, feel it as he walked past me always on guard. I could taste in the very air I breathed.

And his fear was wonderful.

What had started with Merlioni had escalated into many more humans and I didn’t regret it. It was good, it was fun. It was almost an aphrodisiac.

But it didn’t scare me. And the dream did.

I rolled out of bed as well as I could. My stomach wasn’t huge, but it was big enough to hinder me. It hindered me enough that I had to let Larry do all the executions in the last month or so. No one would let me near a vampire corpse waiting to be staked, and hunts were just so out of the question. So I made do with the occasional job from Blue Suit.

No, no, we don’t call it a hit. That would disagree with what few morals I hadn’t been able to suppress or squash within my body. Since I’d started with that cop I used to work with, Merlioni, I’d done a few more cops. Most memorably, Detective Clive Perry, who thought I was joking and too late realized I was killing him. I didn’t use a gun on him; I used a knife, the one that goes down my spine.

It was very satisfying to finally see what it could do.

But today was a good day. Today I had another job, the highest paying one yet, and it was on the person who mattered most to the old Anita. Detective Sergeant Rudolph Storr.

Unfortunately Blue Suit requested I use a gun, bullets only, no torture, so I wouldn’t get to play with my knives this time. But I couldn’t wait to see his face when he saw who was responsible for killing the police officers. Call me crazy, but I wish I could take a picture. I was sure he was going to be shocked.

It was dusk and I was ready to get to work. I showered, dressed, accessorized, and left the house silently, not even saying goodbye to Nathaniel. And especially not Death.

I waddled, yes, I hate to say it, but I waddled to my jeep and climbed in. This was what made me a little relieved that the job was gun only. But for now, I was intent on finding the target.

I’d been told that something would be arranged so that Dolph and RPIT would be called out, then I would follow him and flag him down in a ‘quiet’ area. Translation: somewhere where I could kill him without being seen. Once that was done, I’d go make my alibi at the Circus.

I’d been driving for more than an hour when I stumbled across the crime scene. It was nearly wrapped up. Dolph was standing by his car talking to Zerbrowski when I shifted into neutral a block away, watching, waiting. They talked for a good twenty minutes before he got in and pulled out of the parking lot.

I followed.

It wasn’t too long before he realized he was being followed. I flashed my brights at him and he pulled over. I was lucky, we were in the Tenderloin area of town. A good place to kill him. Even better, the streets were deserted.

I pulled over behind him and slid out carefully, concealing the silencer equipped .9mm I’d been given for this job. I was careful as I walked over to him. He smiled.

“Anita, how are you?”

“Killer,” I said as I raised the gun.

His eyes widened slightly, and I could hear his breathing and pulse speed up.

“You?” he asked softly as he raised his hands in front of his body.

“Me,” I nodded as I took a step forward. I was about to pull the trigger when a figure stepped out of the shadows behind him.

Dolph must have seen me glance at it because he looked over his shoulder and we both smiled as we saw Death standing there. I was smiling because having Death watch this would make it even better, his pain would only spice the death. Dolph was smiling because he thought it would save him.

Foolish human.

“Anita, don’t,” Death said softly but loud enough to hear in the stillness of the dark.

Dolph looked at me for a moment and I looked at Death. I knew my eyes were as cold and distant as his, he would never truly know how much I enjoyed this unless I told him. So I did.

“This is the most fun I’ve ever had, Death,” I sang into the air. He raised a yellow eyebrow and I smiled. “I get to kill someone, and I get to hurt you. What more could a girl ask for?”

I pulled the trigger twice, both shots taking Dolph in the chest. He fell and I had a glimpse of blood as he went.

Death walked over to him and stooped, checking his pulse. He shook his head and stood. I tossed the gun to the ground and smiled as I turned to leave, a private smile at my triumph over the ultimate killer.

“Raina,” he called, and I stopped.

I didn’t mean to stop, it wasn’t my name, but it was. He knew.

I laughed joyously and faced him. “So now you know.” My voice was cold.

He nodded and I took it as his acknowledgement. Before I could breathe, I was being held by three werewolves, all easily recognizable. I was their lupa, after all.

I opened my mouth to scream and something more like a howl broke from my throat. For a moment I wished I still could, but too late for that. This was a much more powerful thing to be, this necromancer was. I glared at Death.

“It’s too late, she’s mine.”

He stepped close to me and for a moment I thought he would kill me. But in the end, I proved correct because he didn’t. I’d known that he couldn’t kill me, not if I was in her body, because she was important to him. He leaned in close and his eyes were full of icy rage.

“She belongs to no one, least of all you.”

I spit at him. “No, fool, you don’t understand.” His eyes flickered with fear as I continued. “I’ve broken her,” and I laughed. “I’ve broken her.”


	8. Chapter 8

I was tied up under the Circus and I was getting angrier by the second. They’d kept me here for two days. Two days tied down on a chair, two days to memorize the faces of my captors, two days to decide how they would die. It would have been more fun if it hadn’t been for the backache that had set in a few hours ago.

I knew it was full dark, could feel it pressing in on me, and I knew when they decided to end whatever they were doing. I could feel it in the power that reached out for me and embraced me. I closed myself to it the moment I tasted it. I knew the flavor, it was my teacher.

Marianne appeared a few minutes later with Richard leading her and Verne and Roxanne close behind. Naturally the Ulfric and his lupa would have to see what their Vargamor is up to. I bared my teeth at them before I could stop myself and Marianne sighed.

“Child, why did you not call me sooner?”

I wrenched my body against the handcuffs they’d used on me and tried to reach her. I wanted to rip her throat out.

Marianne stepped back and looked around the room. “Arrange the incense as I instructed and then leave us. The magic will be powerful. I can’t risk calling your beasts.” Her voice was calm and sure.

I didn’t like it.

An hour later the room was filled with thick smoke from a dozen braziers full of incense and I was feeling sick. She’d been chanting ever since she’d lit them, and I felt like my head was splitting apart.

“What are you doing, Marianne? You’re hurting me.”

When in doubt, try to appeal to the friendship.

She opened her eyes and looked at me. “I am killing you, Raina, once and for all.”

My heart sped up. It wasn’t possible to kill something that was part of the munin. I knew that, so did the pack. All lukoi did. We were munin to guide. Or in my case, conquer and destroy. Which I had. And now I was enjoying life again.

“You can’t kill me, witch,” I said, my voice certain.

She continued chanting and the pain in my head grew worse. Then I knew that she was telling the truth. She’d found a way to give me myself back. She was going to take me out of me. But she can’t do that. Anita and I are the same now.

No, we aren’t.

She was screaming inside my head and I couldn’t make her stop. Raina knew that she was going to die, she didn’t want to. She was clawing at my mind trying to get a hold on me. I watched Marianne stand up and walk over to me and suddenly I was on my feet, handcuffs broken and dangling from my wrists. Raina had managed to keep control over me, but I fought her. She was struggling against the spell and against me and then something happened.

Marianne shouted a word and then Raina roared out of me.

“If I die, I will take someone with me!” I shouted in Raina’s voice and then I was flung over a couch and against a wall.

Then it was quiet.

I was quiet. I was also in pain. My stomach hurt where I’d rammed into the couch and my vision blurred. I had just enough time to think, not again, and then there was nothing.

I woke up with a splitting headache and a dull throbbing pain in my stomach. Vaguely I remembered a couch and a wall. I laughed softly and sat up awkwardly, ignoring the pain. Edward was slouched in a chair next to the bed sleeping. A quick glance showed me that I wasn’t in the hospital. I dug into my memories and knew I was in Dr. Lillian the wererat’s clinic.

What the hell happened?

My forehead began pounding harder as a million and one jumbled images raced through my brain. I reached up and brushed my hair out of my face, cursing and grimacing as some curls caught on my hand and held it. No, not my hand I discovered as I gently extracted it from my hair.

It had caught in two golden rings, wedding rings. A simple band and another with a diamond.

Wait a second. Wedding? I was married?

One of the images pushed forward and I was looking at Edward, wearing a black suit and saying, “I do.”

“Oh god,” I said as I looked at Edward’s hands. They were crossed over his chest, but I could easily see the matching band on the ring finger of his left hand.

Then I noticed how uncomfortable I was sitting up. Not a normal thing. And how sore my lower back was. Another non-normal thing, the problem was obvious as I glanced down.

I was pregnant.

With Edward’s baby.

“Oh god,” I said again, louder.

Edward jerked awake and I met his cool gaze knowing my eyes were wide with panic.

“Anita?” he asked softly, as he reached for my hand.

I pulled back from him and he drew his hand back slowly. The ice melted from his gaze and I saw his eyes fill with relief.

“Oh, thank God,” he said as he leaned back in his chair. It was the first time I’d ever heard him say that or anything like it. “I thought she took you with her.”

She? _Raina_. That’s when I began to make sense of the picture puzzle in my head. Everything fell into place and I knew what had happened. All of it.

I remembered being thrown into the wall that first time.

I remembered Olaf and the woman whose throat I’d slit.

I remembered the wedding, that night, and my stepdaughter, Becca.

And I remembered the joy I’d taken in killing.

Merlioni, Perry, Dolph.

Oh no… My heart stopped beating for a moment as I remembered killing them. For money. And I remembered liking it. Their deaths, their blood, their pain. I’d liked it all. God help me, I’d liked it all.

“You’ve only been out for a couple of hours,” Edward said as he stood. He opened the door and I heard him call for Dr. Lillian.

I’d been asleep for a few hours, but I’d been Raina’s puppet for an entire year.

I was silent as Dr. Lillian came and checked me over. When she was finished she asked, “Are you okay?”

I tried to smile, but I couldn’t.

“I want to go home,” I said softly. And then I started to cry.


	9. Chapter 9

I jerked awake with a scream on my lips that never came. Whatever it had been that had awoken me was gone. I rolled over clutching Sigmund to me. I hadn’t gone to sleep with him. Someone, probably Nathaniel, had placed him next to me after I’d gone to sleep.

With something like a muffled scream I threw Sigmund away from me. Raina had cuddled with him. I didn’t want anything to do with that bitch. She’d used me.

I sat up carefully and grabbed the little stuffed penguin from the floor. My fist was tight on him as I crept out into the hallway. Sneaking about in my own house, sad but true. I didn’t want to see Nathaniel or Becca or Edward.

Especially Edward.

But the house was dark and silent.

I found myself in the kitchen and suddenly was gripped by the burning desire to destroy the object of my disgust. I stood in front of the sink and shoved the stuffed animal down the drain turning the garbage disposal on as I did.

Sigmund swirled in the drain and wouldn’t go any further. I pulled open the drawer next to the sink and used a long knife to poke and shove him down farther. He went, spitting up pieces of fluff as he did. My face was streaked with tears of rage and pain as I dropped the knife on the floor and went back to my room.

I left the disposal on.

As I passed Becca’s room a light went on, but I didn’t stop. I closed my own door and locked it behind me. There would be no interruptions.

I pulled the heavy drapes from in front of my window and opened it. Rain from the storm outside streaked in and cooled my face. I smiled bitterly into it and turned away, back to my bed and my closet, to all of the things that had made me a killer.

The Browning was the first to go. I flung it straight out into the rain from the headboard holster. It was already unloaded; I’d done that before I’d gone to sleep. The Firestar and my knives followed. Then the extra Browning and the Uzi’s.

Everything went into the rain and I laughed harshly. There was one more thing to go.

I slid my hand to my throat, and it closed around the cool metal of my silver cross. It was the one Grandma Blake had given me. I tugged sharply and the chain snapped. It too went into the stormy night. I had nothing left except pain.

Real pain, I discovered as I lay down on my bed. My abdomen tightened and my breath caught in my throat. An eternity passed and then it was gone. I lay there for a few minutes before letting myself breath normally again.

There was a soft knock at my door, and I ignored it, noticing for the first time how wet my bed was beneath me. Too wet for the little bit of rain that had sprayed me.

I had a moment to think, “How strange,” before I realized what was happening. My heart pounded faster as I closed my eyes. Then another contraction swept over me and I bit my fist so I wouldn’t scream. The door rattled a bit and I rolled onto my side.

“Go away,” I whimpered.

Not the smartest thing to do but I was afraid. The door stopped rattling and I began to panic. I didn’t know what to do so I did the first thing that came to mind.

“Edward.” His name was soft and barely carried in the room.

“Edward,” I called again, a bit louder. And then another contraction seized me. I must have cried out because as the pain receded, I heard another knock at the door and Nathaniel’s voice through the wood.

“Anita?”

My mouth was dry. Too dry to speak. My hand flailed against the side of my bed and hit my alarm clock. It fell to the ground and blared on. The door burst open as Nathaniel rushed through it, bursting the hinges from the frame. He was at my bed in an instant using the speed of a lycanthrope.

“What’s wrong Anita? What’s going on?” His voice held a hint of the panic I was feeling.

“Edward,” I whispered as I licked my dry lips. “The baby—”

I stopped and curled into a ball as another contraction hit me. They were coming fast. Too fast, too soon. And damn it, when Raina had been in control, we’d never gone to a single Lamaze class. Big mistake. I closed my eyes.

“Edward,” Nathaniel yelled.

I heard a door open, footsteps, and then a warm hand on my forehead. My eyes fluttered open as the pain left again and I knew my fear was visible as I met Edward’s cool blue gaze.

“The baby?” he asked, voice neutral.

I nodded.

“It’s too soon.”

“I know,” I moaned as I curled up again.

Nathaniel stooped to pick me up and Edward’s gun was on him before he could touch me. Nathaniel’s eyes were calm.

“I won’t drop her.”

Edward nodded, the gun disappeared, and I was suddenly being cradled against Nathaniel’s chest. He carefully carried me to the car, and I had the backseat to myself while Edward drove us to the hospital. We got there quickly. He sped.

We got there and Nathaniel picked me up and carefully carried me inside. Almost at once there was a doctor at my side asking me if I was hurt. I didn’t answer. I was in the middle of another contraction, so he reached out towards me. Nathaniel turned me away from him and Edward had his Beretta at the doctor’s head before I could blink.

“He can’t help if you kill him, Edward,” I said in a strained tone. I grimaced as I realized I’d said Edward instead of Ted, but I don’t think the doctor noticed.

Edward lowered the gun and the doctor took a careful step away from him and me. Edward glared at him and I was amazed that the little man didn’t turn and run. Instead he took the step back and looked at me.

I smiled weakly. “The baby’s coming,” I said and then he realized why I was so pale.

In a flurry I found myself being carried to a delivery room and then I was on the delivery table. I opened my mouth to tell them I was six weeks early, but words never made it out. Instead it was a low scream. My stomach was burning, and the pain was worse than before.

The doctor was at my head and I felt the jab of a needle in the back of my hand. “Ms. Blake? Can you hear me?”

I nodded.

“When are you due?” he asked.

“Six weeks,” Edward said in a low voice from behind me where he was standing.

The doctor’s eyes shot open and he turned away from me. Then I felt a dull rush of icy coolness in my hand and then the pain began to recede and me with it.

I heard the doctor’s voice again. “She’s losing blood fast.”

Blood? I wasn’t bleeding. I turned my head as my vision wavered and saw Edward. His eyes were blank, but I could see past it. I knew he was worried, but it only made me feel worse.

I was a killer. Better than him, maybe. And he was worried about me.

But those thoughts escaped me as everything went dark.


	10. Chapter 10

I had the baby; she’s safe and as healthy as a six-week preemie can be. The doctors all decided to keep her in the neonatal unit until at least she hit a clinical full term. Which meant my daughter wouldn’t be coming home for at least three weeks, minimum.

Edward and I talked about it when I came out of the anesthesia’s influence the day after the cesarean. We named her Anna Victoria. Fancy but truthfully, it was Becca who decided. Edward brought her up to my room the day after and she told me how beautiful her sister was.

Edward looked a little blank, but he slid his Ted face on and smiled. I knew he was hurting. He still thought she was Richard’s or Jean-Claude’s.

I found out how easily that could happen when I saw my daughter for the first time. Her hair was black and curly, like mine. But her eyes were a deep blue. They looked like Jean-Claude’s. I knew better, but I didn’t tell Edward. I was still having a bit of a problem facing the fact I was a mother, and Death was my baby’s father. Go figure.

I went home a week later almost entirely recovered from the operation and a little relieved. There would be no more pregnancy scares. My doctor told me that having another baby was nearly impossible now. Something about complications during the birth and severe trauma to my uterus.

I knew better. When I’d hit the couch and the wall as Raina was leaving and trying to take me with her… She was really trying to take the child. She didn’t succeed but she took away my chance to have another.

I hope she burns in hell.

I went with my family to see my newborn daughter two weeks after she was born.

Becca smiled. She said she was the happiest big sister in the world.

I just looked at her blankly.

I didn’t care anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I also have some recovered/saved Anita Blake fics (including plenty of A/E, but not only that) stuck on a google drive, [please click here](https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1KQMp7b06-cmAndB_tUv2YS4cPQlsNaMk?usp=sharing) to go check it out and read some more excellent fic.


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